Conclusion

This unit has hopefully illustrated how complex the Open Access landscape can be. To even understand the basics, librarians need to be able to decode a lot of terminology which is sometimes hard to explain to those not in dedicated Open Access roles. Once they have got to grips with these basics they need to apply this understanding to the different funder policies - policies which seem to change on an almost weekly basis! Tied in with this is the issue of assessment exercises such as the REF which come with their own sets of rules and requirements. This is a complicated landscape to navigate before you have even begun to start explaining things to the research community. Hopefully this unit has offered some insights into this landscape so that learners feel better prepared to deal with the questions they will face. Perhaps the most important role for librarians in Open Access is to persuade researchers of its benefits. To many people, Open Access is merely about compliance with funder mandates and assessment exercises but there is  much more to it than this. By advocating the wide range of benefits to the researchers of today, librarians can help to mold them into the open practitioners of tomorrow.